painted gourds...

so my mother in law has more craftiness in her little pinky than i do at all. she makes such amazing things its always fun to see what she will make next. one of her more recent projects was for megan's wedding. lynda was making centerpieces for the tables out of gourds. i can't remember how many she made but there were at least 10 that she came up with the design, carved and then painted it. i was lucky to be able to take home 2 from the wedding. charlie picked out one and i picked out the other and believe me it was hard to choose they were all so stinkin' cute! i know its after halloween but yes my gourds are still on display at my house...and no i am not lazy and haven't gotten around to taking them down!

thanks lynda!

 this was my choice!

 lights can go inside this one and light up the witch!

 love it!

pumpkin patch jail! complete with working doors so you place lights inside! also the top comes off of this one!

The Wedding Video

Charlie made the video from some clips he shot at the wedding.  Enjoy!

Going to the chapel....

No...not me silly! I've been there done that! This past weekend my beautiful sister in law married the man of her dreams! She was wonderful and let our whole family participate in the ceremony...well Olivia was one of the flower girls in name only...she was a little fussy and I didn't think she would walk down the aisle so she didn't.

Anyways I got to go back to my old stomping ground of Emory University as the ceremony and reception were at the Houston Mill House. It was nice to be back. I love that part of Atlanta...so beautiful! I won't bore you with all the details other than it was cold....Megan looked gorgeous....food was awesome....great company....what more can you ask for! Here are some of the highlights of the weekend!

 Beautiful bride!

 Sarah and Olivia...my little ham!

 Laura helping Megan into her dress.

 Don't you just love the hairpieces! So fun!

 Loved it! Absolutely stunning hairpiece!

 Anxiously awaiting the start of the ceremony! BTW...Olivia loved jumping into Megans dress! She would giggle everytime she fell into it...I was scared I would hear a rip from the dress!

 Ava the goofy flower girl! She had just finished eating a fruit by the foot...hence the red tongue!

 I know, I know...she's getting a little scary looking with these faces!

Olivia and I hanging out upstairs where it was warm!

 My girls! Don't know what Ava is doing though!

It is so hard to get a good picture of these two together!

 Megan taking pictures before the wedding...love the something blue!

 My paparazzi lens on my camera caught them taking family pictures...I guess I was supposed to be out there with them taking pictures but it was so much warmer inside!

Megan enjoying herself at the reception!

 Beautiful ladies!

 Olivia had a great time dancing with Daddy! She is just like her big sister who loves to dance!

 I know its out of order but here is Ava before the wedding in the hotel room. She was very excited about everything...she was taking her job as flower girl very seriously!

And one for the road! This is after we got back to the hotel and Ava took out her hair! Priceless! I couldn't stop laughing!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Pearson!

Parental Visit

So this weekend we had a visit from my parents (hi mom!). It was their second time coming to visit and their first time meeting Jetta. We had steaks on the grill Saturday night after they got here and while we were cooking we got to catch up on their recent trip to Germany.  Abby(my parents dog) and Jetta met for the first time and it went fairly well. Jetta wanted to play and Abby didn't. No surprise there! It was still fun watching them interact. Olivia of course couldn't get enough of Abby. She was squealing with delight the moment Abby got out of the car! We had a great night catching up and my parents were able to sleep on our brand new mattress we got for the guest room! So exciting!

Anyways...the next day my mom and I took a quick trip to Wal-Mart...me to pick up the Sunday paper and my mom to take advantage of our cheaper sales tax! After that we loaded up the vehicles and headed to the Augusta Canal. It was a beautiful day again, nice, not to warm but not too cool. Love it! We had a short walk because Abby does not tolerate long walks but thats ok. We had a nice leisurely stroll and enjoyed the scenery around us!

After that we headed home and started some brats on the grill. Yummy. Of course like all good things their visit came to a close as they had a long car ride home. Apparently made longer by construction. Stinks. We still had a great visit and the girls really enjoyed seeing their grandparents again!

We are looking forward to our next out of town guests! We officially have a bed in the guest room so no need to sleep on our blow up mattress! So come on over!

 Grandparents and the girls....note the matching Packer attire!

 Taking over the canal trail!

 Looking out at the Savannah River.

 Olivia was so fascinated by the water she wouldn't turn her attention to the camera for a minute!

 Pretty! Olivia is finally doing her 'regular' smile. :)

 The Murren clan! (and my belly button...apparently taking over!)

So cute! Looking good Mom and Dad!

Love my girls!

 Lol! She was "talking" to me when I took this one! She was fascinated by the clouds!

 More clouds!

 makes you melt!

 Ava wanted to do some "modeling" poses. :)

Gorgeousness!

These are my baby loves! They both have so much personality as you can see! Can't wait for unnamed baby girl #3!

Happy Fall!

Fall desserts...yummy!

So this past week I decided to embark on some extra baking. I love desserts and my sweet tooth is apparently out of control right now...so I indulged myself a bit!

First off I made pumpkin scones. I've never made scones before but I believe they turned out ok. They tasted pretty good. The recipe made 12 and I froze half of them for later! I probably could have used more icing like the recipe called for but I didn't feel like it. :) Ava really enjoyed them so I'm not going to be the only one enjoying them! The recipe was found through Money Saving Mom's website...its an awesome website btw! No pictures for this one but you can see what they look like by checking out the link.
http://theshoeboxkitchen.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/pumpkin-scones/


Next up...apple pie! MMMMMM.....one of my favorites! Can't say enough good things about it! My sister gave me this recipe a while back and it is my go to...always get rave reviews from others! Last time I made it I even made homemade pie crust. It wasn't hard to make, just hard to roll out without it sticking to everything...the taste though was amazing. However, Pillsbury makes pretty phenomenal pie crusts too so I used that this time. Once again an amazing pie. Only 2 pieces left and I made it 2 days ago. Pictures aren't that great...my other lens for my camera is broke and haven't gotten it fixed.

Last up to make...pumpkin bars.  My mom made those every fall while I was growing up and were always such a treat! I finally got the recipe for it and was able to make it. Let me just say it tasted just like I remembered! Moist and yummy! I was going to freeze half the pan but decided to give Charlie some to take to work so there is less than half left, but that is a good thing seeing as I have no self control around desserts! :)

That is all I have made this week...it seemed like so much more but it did take a while to peel and core the apples...excuses, excuses. I am hoping to make some sugar cookies and decorate those with Ava this weekend! I love sugar cookies!

Happy fall baking!

Augusta Canal

So we had a busy weekend. Nothing wrong with that! We headed to the Augusta Canal on Sunday afternoon. It was a gorgeous day out! We love walking on the path, it's nice and long, partly wooded and the canal is on one side and the Savannah River on the other. Beautiful scenery. We busted out the jogging stroller for Olivia this time, we made her walk last time...it was hard getting her to stay on a straight path...she likes to stop and play in the dirt. Jetta came with us and she was exhausted by the end and so was Ava! Definitely look forward to going back soon!

 The start of our walk...Ava insisted she wear flip flops...she only lost them a couple times on the walk.

 Augusta Canal....so pretty!

 Olivia smiling at the camera.  What a goober!

 Jetta getting all tuckered out!

 Olivia got out of her stroller to walk briefly.  She enjoyed it...until she wanted me to pick her up!

 Me with Olivia in the jogging stroller at the start of our walk.

Me walking with Jetta...black really does do a good job camouflaging the baby bump! Pictured here about 27.5 weeks.